Elementary

The elementary-aged child wants to know everything. His natural tendency to explore is well-served by the concept of Cosmic Education, a Montessori cornerstone which demonstrates how everything in the universe is interrelated. Whether the tiniest molecule or the largest organism ever created, Cosmic Education explains that everything has a part to play – a contribution to make towards the maintenance of harmony as a whole.

Montessori elementary education speaks to a child´s imagination and sets her off on a lifelong voyage of discovery. So begins one version of “The Story of the Universe”, the first of five stories known as the Great Lessons. These lessons are a connected series of stories spanning the enormous historical frame of time and space, from which emanate the details of the disciplines of science, mathematics, social studies and language.

GEOMETRY

At the elementary level, continued sensorial exploration with geometry materials leads to the abstraction of theorems and formulas. Geometry is closely interrelated with mathematics through its visual representation of the relationships and logic of mathematical processes. It also provides the basis for the study of architecture and design.

THE STORY OF GEOMETRY

PRELIMINARY EXERCISES

CONGRUENT – SIMILAR – EQUIVALENT

INTRODUCTION TO POLYGONS

ANGLES

LINES

EQUIVALENCE

POLYGONS AND CIRCLES

AREA

SOLID GEOMETRY

MATHEMATICS

The materials simultaneously reveal arithmetic, geometric, and algebraic correlations. These correlations are more fully extracted and articulated at the elementary level as the child moves toward abstraction through a series of carefully constructed steps.

INTRODUCTION: GREAT LESSON, THE STORY OF NUMBERS

BASIC MATH

EARLY WORK: CONCEPTS, PROPERTIES, NUMERATION

OPERATIONS: FIRST WORK

FRACTIONS

DECIMALS AND FRACTIONS

OPERATIONS CONTINUED

NEGATIVE NUMBERS

POWER OF NUMBERS

OTHER BASE SYSTEMS

WORD PROBLEMS

INTRODUCTION TO ALGEBRA

LANGUAGE

The elementary child discovers the powerful role of written language in the development of human civilization. Language becomes a major tool for both exploration and expression through research and oral and written presentations. Continued study of grammar and syntax is integrated with the study of literature and style.

HISTORY OF LANGUAGE

GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX

WRITTEN LANGUAGE (COMPOSITION)

SPOKEN LANGUAGE

LITERATURE

STYLE

NTERPRETIVE READING

RESEARCH

MISCELLANEOUS

SCIENCES AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

An ecological perspective highlights the interrelationships of the earth, its flora and fauna, and human life. The child discovers the richly varied way in which people meet the same basic needs in relation to differences in topography, climate, and natural resources. This study is expanded at the elementary level to explore the relationships among living and non-living elements, with a focus on connections and functions. The evolution of human societies is examined as part of the whole unfolding of life on earth.